When I heard that Disneyland and Walt Disney World were working on a billion dollar expansion dedicated Star Wars, I wasn’t super excited. I’ve never been all about Star Wars. Star Tours is fun, but not up there on my favourite rides. I haven’t seen the new movies. Having a son, I would say I’m more into the idea of Star Wars, but not the movies themselves. But one thing I definitely know about Disney, they do everything wonderfully and fully committed. You can have confidence in knowing if Disney is going to invest in something, it’s going to be good no matter what. Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is no exception.

History

Leading up to the opening of Galaxy’s Edge there was a lot of concern about huge crowds and long lines. Things like the opening of Toy Story Land and Pandora – The World of Avatar in WDW really support this… yet this is the West Coast, not the East Coast. Disneyland started by requiring reservations to visit Galaxy’s Edge between May 31 and June 23, 2019. Next was the brilliant idea of “boarding groups” where you sign-up in the morning that you are going to the park, and they assign you a time to enter the Galaxy’s Edge are of the park. This shows us that Disney is learning from past openings.

However, there are a few things working against Galaxy’s Edge. Prices increased for Disneyland (thankfully though, the rumours of an extra cost to enter Galaxy’s Edge never happened). People were anxious, I think, about the lines and crowds, AND the biggest change of all is that Disneyland actually blocked the SoCal Select, Southern California and Deluxe APs (Annual Passholders) and cast members from going to Disneyland for the entire summer. This is EXCELLENT NEWS for those of us who casually visit, but hard for those paying the money to be there more often. Obviously as a visitor, we really appreciated this… but I think it rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. The last thing working against Galaxy’s Edge is the fact that the entire land only has two attractions, and only one (Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run) was open for the Grand Opening! (The second attraction, Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance is slated to open January 17th 2020 in DL and December 5th 2019 in WDW).

I was able to go to Disneyland in July 2019, only two weeks after the general opening. I was watching the Disneyland App to see what was happening. They were still using the boarding groups when we were on our way to LA, but by the time we were going to Disneyland for the day they had abandoned the boarding groups. One can only imagine that this was because crowds weren’t as large as what they had hoped.

We had a wonderful, quiet day at Disneyland. 31 attractions in one day, without MaxPass… which is unheard of, let alone on a Sunday in July! We did notice right off the bat that lots of people were trying to get into the Galaxy’s Edge section of the park. There are three entry points; one in Critter Country by the Hungry Bear Restaurant, and two along the path behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad that connects Frontierland to Fantasyland. (First thing in the morning, one of the entrances north of Big Thunder was blocked off for entry.)

My first tip is to knock off some of the bigger rides in the morning before heading into Galaxy’s Edge. We were able to do Indiana Jones, Big Thunder, Pirates, Splash Mountain, Winnie the Pooh (twice) and Haunted Mansion, all before 10 am due to the low crowds.

We got into Galaxy’s Edge around lunch time. We tried to get our bearings first, but we were super hungry. It’s quite a large land, all things considered. It wasn’t super packed, but it WAS a little confusing to know where to go and we ended up walking all the way through the land before finding the only place to get a meal outside of the food stands.

Along the way we saw plenty of characters interacting with park guests. I can’t tell you who this is if my life depended on it, but this was right when we walked in. Oh come on, it’s Kylo Ren! I love the details. They made things look rusty that are brand new, and here you can see tire tracks on the ground.

Food

Docking Bay 7 Food and CargoThis is where we headed straight away, and I think it was the best meal I’ve had in Disneyland. It compares well to Satu’li Canteen in Pandora at Walt Disney World. Very fresh, good food, unlike anything else you can get at Disneyland. My 3 girls (12, 9, and 6) shared one meal and my husband and I shared another. We ordered two of the Roasted Endorian Tip-Yip Salad: marinated chicken served with mixed greens, roasted seasonal vegetables, quinoa, pumpkin seeds, and green curry ranch for $13.99. It was SO good!

Milk StandThis is where you will get that Blue and Green milk everyone is talking about. I have seen SO many posts about this. From what I can gather, the blue milk has a more subtle flavour. It’s made with plant-based milk with a hint of berry and melon. Another great treat option for vegans. It’s a blended drink that has the texture like a smoothie. The green milk, I’ve heard a lot of mixed reviews about. The flavour is citrus and floral; people seem to either love or hate it. This isn’t really my thing, so we skipped it. There are SO MANY amazing treats in the parks, this is not one I’m tempted by either. But if you’re a big fan, you can get it here for $7.99. If you’re a REALLY big fan you can get it in a “Bubo Wamba Family Farms Light-up Souvenir Sipper” for $24.99! And if you’re visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World, you can get this with alcohol in it.

Oga’s CantinaI’ve heard incredibly good things about this place. This is the “local cantina” of Batuu, where bounty hunters, smugglers, rogue traders and weary travelers of all ages come together to refuel, enjoy music and conduct meetings. Bold musical entertainment courtesy of droid DJ R-3X is part of the experience. This is the only place you can get alcohol in Disneyland (starting at $12, and going up to $72). You can also get espresso based beverages at breakfast and non-alcoholic concoctions throughout the day. At lunch and dinner time there are not food options besides one snack offering, so it’s really more of a bar feel and a sit down experience more than anything else. You can see the full menu here. Also, you currently need a reservation to get in.

Attractions

Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

The ride allows for six people to ride together. Each person receives one of three roles: Pilot, Gunner, or Engineer. Once you reach this stage, they will hand you your cards which are colour coded. You then have a couple minutes to wait around until your colour is called. Once you are handed your roles, you can wander around in a holding area and take pictures. So fun!

The height limit for this ride is 40 inches. The wait times really vary for this… for Disneyland I wouldn’t wait longer than about 40 minutes.If you get motion sickness on Star Tours, then this ride may not be for you. My sister in law tried this ride, and as soon as it began she regretted her decision.

You really do not get a lot of heads up about the roles, but they are fairly simple. If you have young kids, the best role was the gunner, since it only required for them to press two buttons. If you can, choose your pilots carefully. They have a lot of control over the Millennium Falcon. We had only three in our party, and the pilot cards were given to two small boys in the other party. I’m pretty much bullet proof when it comes to motion sickness, but even they had me feeling a little queasy after all the bumps a jerks. Couldn’t agree with this more! We had no idea going in what to expect and we had a 15 year old and 6 year old piloting… and they thought it was hysterical to sway back and forth the whole time. It was a LOT!

It also has a single rider line. The interesting thing about this is they can’t guarantee it will be faster. We waited 40 minutes, and the 2 people we rode with that were in the single rider line waited the same amount of time as us. Because it’s 6 people though, you could easily end up on the ride with a friend because a lot of people are in groups of 4.

The stand-by line for this was fun, lots to see.

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

This ride will open December 5th, 2019 (Walt’s Birthday!) in WDW and January 17th, 2020 in Disneyland. They are teasing that it is “unlike anything you’ve ever seen in a theme park attraction,” which is a tall order considering how amazing Flight of Passage is at Animal Kingdom in WDW, and some of the international attractions. It is rumoured to be four and a half minutes long, with the entire ride experience being over 20 minutes total. It will hold 8 people in a vehicle, and use trackless technology like Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway (opening 2020 in WDW), Ratatouille: The Adventure in Disneyland Paris, and Pooh’s Hunny Hunt in Tokyo Disneyland. I’ll be honest, this makes me a little nervous as to how often it will break down (anyone remember waiting for Indiana Jones and then it breaking down for hours at a time?), but we shall see. It will be nice to have a second attraction in this area, as it’s a bit of a trek to make it over to Galaxy’s Edge for one ride.

Merchants

I didn’t get into any of the shops, and I regret it. How hard would it have been to duck in

Resistance Supply: A secret makeshift post where you can join the cause to defeat the First Order

Creature Stall: Discover exotic creatures from around the galaxy – and take one home

First Order Cargo: A temporary post next to a shuttle where you can pick up gear and other products to show your support of the First Order

Other Experiences

Savi’s Workshop

Build your own custom light saber. It’s an immersive experience and more than just picking pieces out of buckets, but it comes with a hefty price tag ($199 USD).You can make a reservation, which is recommended.

Droid Depot

Build your own droid. Visit a workshop stocked with stacks of parts, chips, manuals, and other useful tech items. Pick from either the BB-series or R-series units. This experience is currently first come, first serve. It is $99 USD to build your own droid.

That’s all folks, thanks for stopping by!

Have you been to Galaxy’s Edge yet? We’d love to hear what you think!

Have a magical day!Erica, Heidi,Elisiaand Danielle

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Published by Erica

Mom of 3, lover of Disney, and lasting family memories! Married to Danny for 15 years this coming February, with 3 girls, Audrey (11) Addie (8) and Lexie (5).
Life is full and wonderful!
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We have been to Galaxy’ Edge — we loved it and completely agree about your pilots on Smugglers Run. For us single rider was about 20 mins but you are pretty much guaranteed not to be pilots as they give those to people who wait standby